Since the industrial revolution, and particularly within the last century, carbonaceous fuels, coal and liquid hydrocarbons, have become the dominant source of energy for most stationary applications and virtually all internal combustion engines. Sulfur containing emissions from the combustion of these fuels has always been a serious problem. Indeed, the use of coal as a fuel was greatly curtailed because of noxious emission gases, one of the greater offenders being sulfur compounds, e.g. sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide and more complicated organic and inorganic sulfur compounds. Recently, ecological and public health concerns have become more and more important in the selection of fuels and with these ecological concerns greater attention has been focused upon the role of sulfur in emission contamination of the environment and upon methods for reducing sulfur emission gases into the environment.
In addition, with the shortage of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, gasoline and diesel, and comparable products, great attention has been focused upon methods for using high sulfur containing petroleums and upon more efficient use of existing reserves of these precious hydrocarbon fuels.
Innumerable efforts have been made in the past to improve efficiency of the internal combustion engine, the efficiency of the burning process generally, and to the removal of sulfur from emission gases from these combustions. The present invention constitutes a new approach and a step function improvement over the prior art.